


Reunited

by DarnItTumbleweed



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Romance, not entirely following canon, season fourish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:00:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23211385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarnItTumbleweed/pseuds/DarnItTumbleweed
Summary: Spencer Reid and Natalie Greene were inseparable as children, but time and life pulled them apart. Spencer has always considered Natalie to be the one who got away. So when she walks back into his life he's determined to keep her around. A lot has changed for Natalie over these past few years. She's trying her hardest to make something of herself. She's excited to have Spencer Reid back in her life, but can their friendship grow into something more?  Or will Reid's life and career prove to be too much for Natalie and the changes that she’s endured over the years?
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Reunited

A clear rapid tapping at the window was all it took for Spencer Reid to awaken. He reached out his thin hand blindly reaching towards the nightstand searching for his glasses in the darkened room. He was quick to flip on the small lamp sitting at his bedside, the room brightening his sleepy eyes studying the space.

He rolled his eyes ever so slightly as the tapping continued. Natalie had long ago developed a distinct way of waking him on nights like these; soft taps to his bedroom window, not loud enough to wake his mother, but certainly loud enough to interrupt Spencer’s rest. Though twelve year old Spencer’s bedroom was on the second story, eleven year old Natalie had long ago realized that the old oak tree was positioned at the perfect spot for her to climb on up and climb into Spencer’s bedroom.

Spencer pulled himself from bed quickly striding over to the window and pulling back the curtains not surprised to see a petite redhead staring back at him, her blue pajama set looking far paler under the moonlight. She gave him a small wave the bright yellow flashlight she held in her hand waving wildly.

Spencer wordlessly unlocked his bedroom door allowing her to climb inside. Natalie Greene shot Spencer a sheepish smile her blue eyes drowsy. “Sorry, I know it’s late, but she went out again…dad’s out of town, and I hate being home alone….plus, you know how she can be when she does come home. When she does come home alone she’s…ya know, loud…mean.”

Spencer let out a heavy sigh knowing just who the she Natalie was speaking of.

Spencer embraced Natalie the pale girl easily sinking into his thin arms. He managed to speak his voice soft. “You don’t have to apologize. I know how your mom is.”

Natalie’s mother wasn’t a kind woman, at least behind closed doors she wasn’t.

To be honest most of the time Spencer Reid couldn’t believe someone like Bonnie Greene had ever given birth to someone as sweet as Natalie Greene.

Bonnie Greene had never really wanted to get married nor had she wanted to have children. Natalie’s father was well off enough though that Bonnie figured it would be worth her while to marry him. He had a good job and came from a good family.

He certainly had more money than Bonnie’s drunkard of a father could ever dream of having. So Bonnie has married him. She’d married for comfort and some prestige.

The marriage wasn’t a happy one of course, but somehow the marriage between Bonnie and James Greene had produced a healthy baby girl.

Natalie was the light of her father’s eye. He adored her and she adored him. Things between her mother and her weren’t so peachy though.

James Greene was forced to take plenty of overseas business trips which meant more often than not his daughter was left solely in her mother’s care, or neglect to be more precise.

Bonnie had inherited her father’s love of the drink. She’d also inherited his temper and his wandering eyes.

Natalie was an inconvenience to her mother. She tried to stay out of the way, that meant most of her time was spent next door in the Reid household.

Though Spencer Reid’s own home-life was nowhere near stable, his mother struggling with schizophrenia, constantly in and out of touch with reality, and Spencer’s father having left a few years before.

Even with Spencer’s less than peaceful home-life Natalie had found some sort of safe haven there, with Spencer.

He was her best friend, Spencer was her only friend.

Spencer would more than likely agree with that sentiment.

He’d liked Natalie from the second they’d met way back when Spencer was eight and Natalie was seven.

Her family had just moved in next door when Natalie had made her way across the lawn fascinated by the skinny boy sitting on his front porch a thick book in his lap.

It had been clear to her from the start that Spencer Reid was no ordinary boy. He was smart, beyond smart.

She’d stared at him a little dumbfounded when he’d tried to explain the complex plot of the novel he was reading, War and Peace.

Spencer had almost expected Natalie to run away from him, or at the very least call him a freak. Most people his age thought he was a freak. He didn’t really know how to relate to kids his age.

He’d long ago skipped quite a few grades and while his classmates were learning multiplication and vowels Spencer Reid was solving complex equations and reading the Odyssey.

He’d been surprised as Natalie had simply sat down on his porch pulling a worn book from the backpack she’d been wearing. She presented it to him a small shy smile crossing her lips as she spoke. “I like cookbooks. My daddy bought me this one. It’s about pastries.”

Though Spencer Reid didn’t know terribly much about cooking and Natalie Greene didn’t know too much about classic novels, they’d still become remarkably close as the years had gone by.

Spencer let out a heavy sigh knowing that his question was useless. He already knew just what Natalie’s answer would be. “Why don’t you tell your dad what your mom’s been doing? She’s wrong Natalie…she shouldn’t hit you, or be so cruel. She shouldn’t bring weird drunk guys home from the bar either. She’s supposed to protect you.”

Natalie shook her head far too stubborn to follow Spencer’s advice. “Dad has been home less and less. When he is home all they do is fight. If I tell him he’ll just leave and take me with him…he might take me back to Kansas with him.”

Spencer frowned wanting to argue that Kansas would be better than living with her mother, but he held it in.

He knew what Natalie was trying to say; going to Kansas didn’t just mean leaving her mother, it meant leaving Spencer Reid behind.

He held back the desire to beg Natalie to tell someone, anyone about her home-life. He could admit that the thought of Natalie’s father taking Natalie away scared him. The idea of Natalie leaving scared him.

He knew it was selfish, but he didn’t want her to go anywhere. She was his best friend. She was his only friend in the entire world.

If she went to Kansas he’d probably never get to see her ever again.

He could keep her safe, Spencer told himself. He could be like the knights in the stories his mother read to him. He could keep the princess safe from the dragons.

He finally spoke the two reluctantly breaking their embrace. “We should get some sleep.”

Natalie easily sank into Spencer’s cramped twin bed having nowhere to lie but in her best friend’s arms.

She didn’t mind it to be honest, Spencer always had the strangest way of making her feel safe.

He flipped off the lights Natalie never complaining about the glow of small nightlight Spencer kept on his desk top. She never told him he was too old to be scared of the dark.

She only told him he was brave, and strong, and good. Spencer told her the same.

Spencer had assumed Natalie had fallen asleep given that her breathing seemed to have evened out her movements in his arms stilling.

He almost jumped as Natalie spoke her voice soft. “I don’t know why people get married, all they do is hurt each other.”

“I don’t think that anyone gets married meaning to hurt each other…I think sometimes grown ups are just messy…they get upset with each other and forget how to say sorry.” Spencer explained holding back the desire to fill Natalie in with the newest statistics on divorce in the United States.

Though Natalie never complained about his endless knowledge and his tendency to share it, Spencer knew that now wasn’t the time for statistics.

Natalie shook her head a frown crossing her features. “I don’t want to hurt people. I don’t want to forget how to say sorry. I don’t want to be like my mom.”

“You wouldn’t. I don’t think you’ll ever be anything like your mom.” Spencer reassured her his hold on her tightening.

“How do you know though? I mean…what if I am just like her?” Natalie asked her voice tiny, weak. The sound making Spencer’s heart ache.

“I just know, there’s no way you’re like her. You’re too sweet, and you care too much.” Spencer reassured her.

He spoke again after a few moments of silence wanting to at least give her some sort of comfort though he wasn’t entirely sure he believed his own words. “I think that people get married because they genuinely want to make each other happy. I think that’s what’s supposed to happen, when you’re lucky. When you’re lucky you marry your best friend and you make each other happy forever.”

Natalie spoke snuggling under the blankets all the more exhaustion slowly attempting to win out over her anxieties. “You’re my best friend. I think if I was going to marry anyone it would probably be you. I think we could make each other happy forever.”

Spencer felt his cheeks flush thankful that the nightlight in his room didn’t provide enough light to reveal his pink cheeks. He spoke surprised by how simple the answer seemed. “We could get married someday….when we’re old enough. You’re my best friend too.”

Natalie managed to give his cheek a soft peck as her eyes drifted shut sleep winning out over the desire to stay awake just a little longer.

Spencer laid in silence staring up at the ceiling his overactive brain going a mile a second.

Natalie would marry him? Natalie Greene would want to marry him?

Spencer felt a sleepy smile cross his lips. Natalie Greene would marry him.

…………………………………………………………………..

Dr. Spencer Reid groaned the shrill beep of his alarm pulling him from a rare pleasant dream.

He rolled over onto his back staring up at the ceiling wishing he could will himself back to sleep, and more importantly back to his memories of her.

Natalie Greene haunted his dreams more often that Spencer Reid would like to admit.

He wasn’t entirely sure that haunting was the right terminology though.

The dreams were more memories than anything, and they usually were good memories.

Spencer frowned his heart experiencing that yearning it usually suffered through on mornings like this.

Spencer Reid had never married Natalie Greene.

In fact Spencer Reid hadn’t spoken to Natalie Greene in person since he was eighteen years old.

He’d left Vegas with promises he’d come back for her, but he’d never manage to keep those promises.

They’d tried hard to keep in touch; letters and phone calls and birthday cards.

As time had gone on though those letters and cards had become rarer and rarer, and soon enough the phone calls had become non existent.

Spencer Reid had heard people mention the “one who got away” before.

For Spencer the one who got away would always be Natalie Greene.

Though they’d never crossed the line beyond friendship aside from a few clumsy kisses and a couple of awkward sexual experiences in their teens. It had never crossed beyond friends who trusted one another enough to experiment. Spencer had spent more than enough time kicking himself for never admitting the truth.

The truth was he was absolutely madly in love with Natalie Greene, but he wasn’t brave enough to tell her.

He wished things could have been different.

Sometimes he liked to imagine how different his life would have been if he’d confessed his feelings to Natalie.

He liked to think that he would have been a bit more patient when it came to leaving Vegas for good. He would have stuck around a year longer, waiting for then seventeen year old Natalie to turn eighteen.

The second she’d turned eighteen he would have taken her with him, leaving Vegas behind, leaving her mother behind.

He liked to think he still would have joined the FBI and then the BAU, but this time he would have had Natalie by his side to support him as he went through training.

She would have been there to support him and hold his hand through all the trauma. She would have kept him so strong.

He liked to imagine that he would have made her feel just as strong. He would have supported her as she opened her own bakery. They would have gotten an apartment above the bakery and she would have made the best pastries in D.C.

Spencer would have proposed to her. He would have made good on that promise he’d made her when they were kids.

He would have married her and they would have taken care of one another.

They maybe would have had some kids too, a boy and a girl with her freckles and his brown hair. Their kids would have had her sweet smile and her kind heart and they would have been intelligent like him and loyal. 

Natalie and Spencer could have been so happy.

Spencer cringed his alarm going off pulling him from his daydream, one he’d allowed himself to indulge in far too often for his own good.

He pulled himself from bed freshening up and dressing quickly.

At least he had enough time to stop at the coffee shop not far from the metro station he took on his way to the BAU.

He managed to order himself a cup of coffee to go sure to grab plenty of sugar packets.

He was a bit distracted checking his messages on his cell rolling his eyes at the messages he’d purposely ignored from Morgan the night before attempting to get him out on the town.

He was so distracted by his phone that he collided with her.

Spencer felt his cheeks flush relieved that he hadn’t spilled his coffee on her, however, he did manage to cause the redhead in front of him to drop the planner she’d been carrying all the papers she’d stored loosely within it falling to the coffee shop’s floor.

He dropped down to his knees scrambling to help her pick up the mess. The apologies spilling from his lips. “I am so sorry. I should have been paying more attention.”

It wasn’t until he peered up at her, her blue eyes widening as she made eye contact with him.

Recognition crossed both their features Spencer almost disbelieving his words. “Natalie?”

She took him by shock embracing him practically knocking him over in the process not caring that their collision and now their embrace had drawn a few curious eyes of the other coffee shop patrons. “Spencer Reid? It’s really you? I can’t believe it’s really you.”

She pulled back resting a delicate hand against his cheek the dark blue of her nail polish sticking out against his pale skin. She smiled up at him and it almost felt as though no time had passed since they’d last seen one another.

Natalie managed to speak breaking the spell her eyes a bit damp as she stared up at the man in front of her. He’d grown so much. He was so different from the sorrowful teenage boy who had shared a tearful final goodbye with her on her front porch all those years ago.

“It’s been so long.”

“It really has.” Spencer spoke studying her. She had changed a little, though he knew that was a silly thought.

It had been years since they’d seen one another last. They were no longer teenagers.

She was still beautiful, that much hadn’t changed. Her hair was still that dark shade of red Spencer had always adored and her eyes were still that same pretty blue. Her smile was still wide and sweet, though her teeth were now missing the braces she’d had when she was seventeen.

She peered down at his jacket the warmer weather now meaning Spencer could leave his apartment sans coat. She spoke as she spotted the name tag hanging from his suit jacket. Though the lettering was small and the picture was of a much younger Reid she still recognized what this name tag meant. “You joined the FBI? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised…you were always determined to meet your goals….even when we were kids.”

“I did, what about you? Do you own your own bakery yet?” Spencer blurted out unable to stop himself from practically glowing with pride at her comment.

She gave him a small sheepish smile similar to the smiles she would shoot his way all those years ago when she’d sneak into his bedroom window. “Not the owner…I’ve actually been kind of in and out of the business…lately, I’m back in. I found a job at a nice place not far from here. I’ve only been in town for a few months. My Aunt Kay actually moved here a few years ago, a friend of hers had an opening at his bakery so I took it.”

Spencer opened his mouth wanting to know more, he wanted to know everything.

He was interrupted though as Natalie’s cell phone began to chime she reluctantly answering it.

He watched her speak to whoever was on the other end of the line trying to stop his heart from cracking as he took in her words. “Yeah, I know…I’m on the way. I’ll be there soon baby. I promise.”

Baby?

Of course, she’d moved on with her life.

He shouldn’t be surprised. He had no right to feel heartbroken, Spencer told himself.

Natalie gave him a small smile as she hung up. “I gotta go. We should catch up though, here let me see your cell.”

Spencer pushed back his heartache handing over his cell phone allowing Natalie to open up his contacts and type in her number.

She handed it back to him pressing a kiss to his cheek. “You better call me Spencer. I am expecting a call from you sooner than later.”

“I will…I’ll call.” Spencer replied shoving down any disappointment over the very real possibility of her having a boyfriend already.

He watched her stand up and walk away she giving him a final wave as she left the coffee shop.

Spencer stared down at his phone a heavy sigh leaving his lips.

It was just his luck, the one who got away came back into his life and she was already taken.

He pushed back his sorrow telling himself that it didn’t matter.

Even if Natalie had someone new, he couldn’t bear to lose her again.

Spencer Reid would do what it took to keep Natalie Greene in his life, even if he had to share her with someone else.

……………………………………………….

Natalie sighed running a hand through her hair trying to push back the excitement coursing through her veins.

When she’d decided to move to the area she had almost hoped that there would be some small minuscule chance she would cross paths with Spencer Reid.

She knew it might sound creepy to some, but she’d maybe kept tabs on Spencer Reid through the years.

No she didn’t actively seek him out. She wasn’t some nutball stalker collecting articles about her old friend.

She’d just googled him once or twice through out the years. She’d been impressed with what she’d found, though she wasn’t surprised.

She’d known from the second she’d met Spencer Reid that he was destined for amazing things.

He was back in her life and Natalie couldn’t be more excited.

She’d missed him so much, more than she allowed herself to fully think about as the years had gone by.

She pushed him from her mind turning to the task at hand as she made her way to the elevator taking the ride up to the fifth floor.

She knocked on the familiar door it opening to reveal the only other person in this world to have her heart.

Mason stared up at her his eyes identical to Natalie’s own, his arms reaching for his mother. Natalie scooped him up a chuckle leaving her lips. “You’re getting too big for this baby.”

“Nuh-uh.” Mason insisted shaking his head as Natalie pressed her lips to his cheek.

He was her world, Mason Greene was the best thing that had ever happened to Natalie even if his father hadn’t been the one for her.

She gave him a small smile gently placing him back down and ruffling his dark hair. She reached into her messenger bag pulling out a worn gray stuffed animal. “See I brought Mr. Bunny. I’m sorry you left him in my car.”

A familiar voice sounded out the voice aged and worn from years spent smoking in her youth. “I’m sorry I had to call. He insisted.”

Natalie gave her aunt a small smile shaking her head. “It’s alright. A mother’s work never ends.”

Kay eyed her niece spotting the starry look in her eyes. “That must have been some cup of coffee you went out to get.”

Natalie gave her aunt a small smile resisted the urge to gush over Spencer Reid. That could wait.

Natalie spoke trying to play it cool even though her heart was still beating so fast, so overjoyed with this mornings events. “Yep, it was. Probably the best coffee I’ve had in a while.”


End file.
